Foundation of Lies
by Afraidofhawk
Summary: The story of the founding of the Demonslayer Village. Miroku and Sango prepare themselves to fight a foe of the distant past. Miroku, wary of the demon Sango must first free in order to slay, asks to know more about it. Little does he know that the tale is long, and the story of the founding of the village itself.


Chapter: The Demonslayer Village

The eyes were following him. As he stepped down the stairs, rock to each side of him, Miroku could feel before see the form against the wall in the cave ahead. A sword was in its chest. Magnificent, almost shining, even in darkness. The dim light from the torch behind him, still partway up the stairs, was enough to see the perfection of the blade.

It was unlike any sword he had ever seen. The blade was straight and double-edged, with a hilt and handle completely black. He was more used to seeing single edged, curved blades like katanas. The sword seemed to be from another place or time, or both. The demon it was embedded in only served to add to the feeling of its being from another world.

Like the blade, which he could see the perfection of even in mostly darkness, he didn't need to fully see the form the sword was in to know it was evil. He could feel it, even from there. Its surface was stone, and it would have looked like an ordinary, hideous statue if not for the feeling coming from it. The demon looked like the dried out husk of a man with horns, but there was yet something there. Though its eyes were empty sockets, Miroku couldn't help but feel they were focused intently on him. He'd had too much experience with demons to think it was just his imagination. No, this was his spiritual sense telling him something. The demon was dangerous.

"Are you getting cold feet?" asked Sango, who had been holding the torch behind him. She stopped moving, just behind him, casting more light into the cave. "Why did you want to get in front, anyway? You can't see anything."

"Sometimes the light blinds you to your other senses," said Miroku, staring at where he knew the eyes to have been even before it was exactly revealed by the torch's light. Sango, behind him, could only sigh at one of his little sayings. "This place is dangerous, Sango. Why are we doing this without Kagome or Inuyasha?"

"Because it's a law. Only a member of the clan can come down here," she said, walking past him. As she did, the small cavern was completely revealed by the torchlight. It was rocky and featureless, except for the flattened stone floor and the shrine in the wall surrounding the demon and sword. Inside the shrine there was an upright stone slab, against which the demon was pinned with outstretched arms, as though trying to ward off the blade as it had plunged into its chest. Miroku was standing on the last step before the cave, unwilling to go further.

Was there greater meaning to the law that only members of the clan could step into the cave? He didn't want to disturb anything in its careful balance here, least of all to do anything that could possibly free the demon. Though he had seen much larger demons, even in the demon's inert state, he could sense a malice that surpassed most active demons. Sango walked to a side of the cave, and put the torch into a sconce, a bracket made to hold one.

"Are you going to step inside?" she asked.

"Why is it a law that only members of the clan can step inside?" he asked, resolute in that he would not move. "And why am I allowed?"

"You're being ridiculous. Step inside!" scolded Sango.

Miroku, fearful, almost stepped forward as a reflex but held himself back. "Sango, this is serious. I can feel the demon from here. It's important for me to know what's going on."

"It's because the village was afraid anyone who saw it would want to steal it," she said, relenting a bit. She knew he wasn't a coward or a fool, but sometimes she just had to remind herself. Forcefully.

"The sword," he concluded. "What is it?"

"It's called the Tizona," she answered. "Nobody's sure where it originally came from. The legend says that long ago, a dying man washed up on shore with it. He couldn't move, and though the villagers who found him wanted to help him, they weren't able to get near him. Every time they tried, he would grab the sword, and they would run from a sudden, overwhelming sense of fear. The only thing they ever heard him say was that name, 'Tizona', over and over again, and he seemed to have a mad obsession with it. He managed to crawl a little to get away from the beach, but died a few days later, dying with an entire village unable to get near enough to help him. Once he was dead, they were able to get the sword. When everyone ran away from the person who picked it up, they realized its power."

"An interesting story. Why is it here?"

"It belonged to the founder of our village, who used the Tizona to seal this demon at the cost of their life. The demon isn't dead, it's just too afraid to move or be seen as anything that's not an inanimate object. If anyone tried to steal it, the demon would be freed. Anyway, just stepping inside won't do anything. Come on, already."

He hesitantly took a step forward, and sighed relief as nothing happened. But, he did take note that the demon's attention had shifted from him fully. It was now all on her. "Alright. Let's get this over with," said Sango, standing in front of the demon. "I'm going to pull the sword out, and you're going to banish it. It's going to be hard. Not only are you going to have to banish the demon, you're going to have to do it while overcoming the fear of the Tizona."

"Sango, why can't we let it lie?"

"Because eventually it will be found. There's nobody here to protect it now."

"If it's only because you're afraid it will be stolen, I still don't see why we can't bring Inuyasha and Kagome."

"I told you that. It's a law," she said, frowning.

"We're breaking it right now. Are we going to be jailed for breaking it more?" asked Miroku, flatly.

She huffed at hearing that, frustrated. Miroku groaned, realizing the mistake of speaking of her dead village and clan so heartlessly. "Why are you being so stubborn?" she asked, angrily. She was obviously emotional about this, he thought.

"Because I can tell this is going to be difficult. If we're going to do this by ourselves, it's important that I know exactly who and what the demon was. It will help me fight off whatever influence it might try to have over us. What can you tell me about it?"

"Everything," she said, sitting down. It must be a long story, he thought as he sat down with her. "Our founder wrote it all down, though it was years and years later before the writings were found."

"Was it something that really had to be hidden that well?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, looking at the statue. "It's arguable which one of them was the bigger demon."


End file.
